My Big Fat Trip to Greece!

After coming back from London, I had a day of rest at my apartment in France until I met my friend Mary Rose in Athens, Greece. My flight was from Bordeaux, France to Athens, Greece with a layover in Geneva, Switzerland.

The flight was long, but I eventually arrived in Athens and took the train from the airport to where my Airbnb was located. I had a couple hours until I could check in to my Airbnb, so I spent that time walking around Ermou street and Monastiraki Square, two areas with many shops, restaurants, and historical attractions.

As soon as I got off the metro station, I ran into Hadrian's library. This was once the largest library in Athens built by Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 132. It was used to store important literary works and legal documents and it was also a place to hear lectures and host various philosophical schools.

As I continued to walk around, I ran into some flee markets and souvenir shops on the streets and I noticed some interesting things.

Every souvenir shop in Athens has many penis trinkets: keychains, bottle openers, statues, soap, bags, and more. I was very curious about why these keychains were are all shaped like this around me, and apparently they are a phallic symbol that pays tribute to Dionysus, the god of fertility. There is even a phallic-themed festival in Athens every year.

Another common symbol seen around in Athens is the blue eye, or the "all-seeing eyeball," which wards off evil and brings good luck. The term and symbol originate from the negative energy caused by jealousy, which the Greeks believe can cause minor troubles for the victim. These blue eyes can be found everywhere, from souvenir shops to store window signs, to mugs, and even jewelry and clothes the locals wear.

Something else I noticed pretty quickly about Greece is that there are stray cats everywhere. Our tour guide the next day explained that during the economic crisis in Greece in 2009, many people fell into poverty and could hardly feed themselves. Because of this, people gave up their cats to the streets, the cats soon multiplied, and now there are a bunch of stray cats walking around Athens. And I mean, a bunch. They walk around the restaurants, the tourist shops, the outer streets -- everywhere. If you're worrying about them going hungry, don't fret. Our tour guide assured us that the locals feed them. For instance, he told us that there's a mailman that puts food in their bowls as he's making his rounds in the morning, and checks the same bowls as he's coming back at the end of the day. So, it seems that the cats are well fed.

Two foods that I had to taste straight away when I arrived in Athens were the gyros and the baklava. Gyros are popular in Greece and they come with different types meat, like chicken, pork, or lamb. They are usually wrapped in pita bread, along with tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions, and fried potatoes.

On the right, you'll see a traditional Greek dessert -- baklava! It is a layered pastry made up of filo pastry, filled with nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey.

Something else I learned in Greece is that there are places solely dedicated to tourists and locals who like Instagram.

There are many cute cafes and restaurants, including an Alice in Wonderland themed-cafe, that are decorated and extremely photo-worthy. Their aim is to attract you with their superfluous decorations and get you to post a picture of their eatery on Instagram to get more business.

Another cool spot in Athens is called Areopagus Hill -- I went here on my first night.

The Areopagus Hill is located just to the right of the exit of the Acropolis. It is also known as the “Hill of Ares”. In classical times, this was the site of the Council of Nobles and the Judicial Court, that dealt with homicide. It is said that Ares was tried here by the Gods for the murder of Alirrothios, one of the sons of Poseidon. Another trial said to have taken place here was that of Orestes, who was alleged to have killed his mother Clytemnestra, and her lover Aegisthus. If you go here, be wary of the big steps that you have to climb. They can sometimes be slippery, so wear good shoes. Once at the top, the view of Athens is incredible because you can see just how immense the city is. It is also a very pretty view at sunset.

The next day, Mary Rose and I did a free walking tour of Athens. Our tour guide took us throughout a lot of cool spots in Athens -- the first Olympic Stadium when other countries started participating in the Olympics, the Parliament buildings where we saw the changing of the guards ceremony, the Zoo, and a cool lookout point of Athens.

At one point during the tour, we saw a statue of a horse with a Greek soldier on it. According to horse statue symbolism, if the horse tail is down, the rider died, and if the horse tail is up, the rider lived. If the horse has two hooves up in the air, the rider died in battle. If the horse is posed with one front leg up, it means the rider was wounded in battle, or died of battle wounds. And if all four hooves are on the ground, the rider died from natural causes outside of battle.

We also saw the Olympic stadium in Athens during our tour, which is known as the Panathenaic stadium. It is made entirely of marble and it was built primarily for the Panathenaic Games in Athens in Ancient Greece. It was later refurbished and hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the first modern Olympics in 1896.

When we walked by the Parliament and government buildings in Athens, we saw the changing of the guards ceremony. The Greek Presidential Guard or Evzones stand guard at the Presidential Palace and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Their uniform is made up of the Farion cap, which features a long silk tassel; the Fermeli, which is the intricate waistcoat; the Ypodetes, which is the extremely wide sleeved white-shirt that symbolizes the purity of national purpose; the Foustanella, their cotton kilt, made up of 30 meters of fabric and 400 pleats to represent the liberation of Greece from the years of Ottoman occupation; and the Tsarouchia shoes with black pompoms and 60 nails on the base of the shoe which simulate the sound of battle during the movement of the Evzone. The shoes are often red to symbolize the blood of the Greek ancestors who fought for freedom, with a black pompom, which is the reminder of 400 years of slavery and the tree of liberty. The shoes weigh over 3 kilograms.

After the interesting tour, we visited the Acropolis, the Temple of Zeus, the Parthenon, and the Old Temple of Athens later that afternoon.

At the entrance of the Acropolis

The picture above is the Old Temple of Athena. It was built around 525-500 BC and dedicated to Athena Polias, the patron deity of the city of Athens. It was burnt down during the Persian invasion of 480.

At the top of the Acropolis sits one of the most special monuments in Athens -- the Parthenon. This temple was built in honor of the goddess Athena, the patroness of the people of Athena. Construction started in 447 BC and was completed in 438 BC. It is a symbol of democracy in Athens as it was built after victory on the Persians who occupied Athens in 480 BC. The Parthenon celebrates the victory and the political, economic, and cultural superiority of Athens.

Here is some Greek yogurt we had that night with carrot jam on it. I was a bit skeptical about the carrot jam, but it ended up being quite tasty!

The next day, we went back to the Olympic stadium to visit the museum there.

This is the tunnel under the Olympic stadium.

The torches of the previous Olympic Games

For dinner that night, we had to get more gyros.

Athens at night

That was our last full day in Athens because the next day, we went to Santorini. Santorini is an island off the coast of Greece that was devastated by a volcanic eruption in 16th century BC. It is known for its black, red, and white pebble beaches and its white, cubiform houses.

To get to our hotel in Santorini, we had to take a bus from the airport to a town called Fira. And then we took a bus from Fira to a town called Oia, where our hotel was located. We accidentally went too far into Oia and had to walk back a little once we got off our bus to our hotel, but we eventually got there.

Our hotel was a nice villa that had a pool too. I took a dip, and it was extremely cold!

After hanging out at our hotel for a bit, we walked around the island for most of the day to admire the beautiful houses and landscape. I felt like I was in Mamma Mia! or a James Bond movie -- it was truly stunning.

The white houses in Santorini are all located at the highest spot of the Oia village in the Perivolas area. They are called Santorini Cave Houses or yposkafa and they are all white to confine the heat. The houses' white color reflects the dazzling light, preventing the houses from getting too warm during the summer.

Mary Rose and I at one of the viewpoints in the Oia village.

One of the beaches in Santorini is called the red sand beach because the beach's sand is composed of black and red pulverized rock from the nearby Santorini caldera (a caldera is a large hole that forms in the ground after a volcano erupts and collapses).

The sunset is the place to be in Santorini during the evening. Everyone crowds around the edges of the buildings to watch it as its supposed to be one of the most breathtaking sunsets in the world. The sunset that night was pretty, but it was covered up a little by the clouds.

For our meals in Santorini, we ate a lot of seafood and pasta. This was our dinner on our only night in Santorini -- I had gotten the pasta carbonara and Mary Rose had gotten the shrimp.

After Santorini, our next stop was Vienna, Austria. Overall, I have to say that I really liked Greece! I think its one of the coolest places I had visited in Europe during all of my time there. There is so much culture and history, and the food is delicious. Everyone we talked to, no matter if it was our taxi driver, or our Airbnb host in Athens, our tour guide, or just a local, was incredibly nice and knowledgeable on the area. Greece is a special place that provided the foundation of Western Civilization and I would make it a priority to visit if you haven't yet.